Do I continue as-is?/Did I make a ticking time bomb?

[Likemp]

I'm a little stuck/less-than confident in what the next steps should be on this black locust flat bow. One limb has some fun natural reflex to it, while the other is dead straight. I tried to mirror the reflex onto the flat side with steam - left it in the clamps for 24hrs and brought it inside for a couple days afterwards, but all the reflex disappeared before I could even try bending it and was I left with a handful of these fractures across the limb.  They look like compression fractures but they occurred before they were even compressed so I assume they are from drying after steaming?? The other limb is looking good in terms of not having any similar chrysals or fractures, even though it has the natural reflex as well as a knot towards the end of the limb. Which, makes me feel like the cracks on the other limb have more to do with the steaming it received. 

So, while there's still been a lot of wood to take off I've just been tillering as-is, hoping maybe I'd get past the fractures to where I'd be more confident in trying to heat some reflex into that side again and toast the belly a bit.  I haven't seen any set at this point from long string tillering and working the limbs quite a bit.  But, would I just end up ruining this bow if I try anymore heat corrections and/or tempering?  Do I just accept it's asymmetry and continue forward? Am I limited in my options for any heat treating because of the fractures? Is it a dud altogether?

Any suggestion/wisdom is much appreciated!

[Pat B]

Scrape the belly smooth so you(and we) can see the possible frets better. If what I think I see, those frets look pretty bad.

[Likemp]

Well, it looks way worse now. Probably why I was subconsciously sticking with the rasp and avoiding the scraper. Especially that one farthest out towards the tip. I understand some fretting is ok, especially with black locust which is prone to it, but these seem bad... Did it just dry too fast after steaming? My acceptance of my inexperience had me waiting for this, but I expected it to happen on the difficult limb and from poor tillering...

[Pat B]

If you can reduce the thickness evenly along the limb to eliminate the frets(not just at the frets) you may be able to save the bow but good tillering after that will be paramount.

[DC]

Do you happen to know the history of the wood? I've had very little experience with BL but it looks like maybe early signs of rot. Is it sapwood? Just spitballing here, can't really tell without having the wood right in front of me.

[Likemp]

Thanks Pat, I'll take that as my best option at the moment.

DC - It's from a small tree, maybe 4-5in in diameter that I took down from a small grove on my property. I removed all the sapwood so this is just heartwood. Are you thinking the yellowing and darker toned wood is the pre-rot? The texture doesn't seem to change there or anything, it's actually really beautiful. I was looking forward to polishing it up.  It is relatively wet where I'm at, but not overly so, we're not down in the valley where it floods or anything, but the trees I've taken down so far all have big fat rings, 3-4 rings per inch. 

[DC]

Sounds like you did it right. Just a shot in the dark

[bushboy]

They look like tension fractures and not chrysal/fretted.i have found that wood not completely cured are suspect for such breaks across the grain.they can run quite deep and are not easily removed....with fretted a ridge line is easily felt .tension fractures feel smooth.

[Swampman]

I am with bushboy on this one.  I have had this happen with black locust when trying to induce reflex.  If you got these before ever tillering then you should not have frets.  You should be able to keep moving forward with only aesthetics issues.  However if you try an induce reflex on that limb again, they stand a good chance of getting worse.

[bownarra]

Yes how can they be compression fractures from steaming!?
they look like tension failures to me.
Also that doesn't look like great BL

[Likemp]

You are all confirming my fear that I was heating and reflexing while too green. I knew they came from tension and not compression, just used to seeing so much about frets/chrysals with BL, and they look similar.

Bushboy - They do feel smooth to the touch.

Mike - This has been my main question. They look nasty, but while working the bow, there is no set (yet) and those spots don't seem to be effecting the localized areas (yet) or getting any worse...

Bownarra - What about it doesn't look great? I've had a feeling it wasn't the best, but what do you see in the pictures?

[Pat B]

Are the "cracks" on the belly or the back? Compression fractures (aka. frets, chrysals, etc.) show up on the belly, tension fractions on the back.

[Likemp]

It's only on the belly. But they appeared after an attempt at inducing reflex with steam and before the limb was even worked after un-clamping.

[DC]

How did you steam it and for how long?

[bassman]

Don't feel bad. The first 3 B Locust bows I made failed either from belly frets, or the back broke.It was really thin ringed wood so I didn't chase a ring.The last 3 I built turned out good.That log  had thicker rings, and I was able to chase a heart wood ring ,and it was much better looking wood.I also trapped the back.Learn from that one,and build another. With B locust your tillering has to be spot on, so go slow. A gizmo will help.